Payback

A sadly realistic glance behind the scenes of a glamorous industry

There is a BL subgenre which I call “BTS BL“, because it makes viewers glance behind the scenes of the entertainment, and especially the BL industry. The first movie that focused on this topic was “Fuccbois“ (Philippines 2019), which was based on a true story of two young men who fell victim to politicians who abused and destroyed them, and who took revenge by murdering one of them. The movie boosted the careers of Kokoy de Santos, Royce Cabrera and Migs Villasis.

Whereas “Fuccbois“ depicted the Filipino pageantry scene, Aam Anusorn’s series “Call it What you Want Seasons 1 and 2“ (Thailand 2021) showed the downside of the Thai BL industry, from aesthetic surgery to secret love stories among actors and abuse of actors by bosses.

In 2026, three series center around the same topic. “Deep In“ is a Chinese series that stands out for the quality of its writing. The series follows the shooting of a movie about a psychiatrist and his patient, who fall in love just as the lead actors. Sometimes the line between acting in the movie and the real life of the actors is blurred, as both relationships are strictly forbidden, and the actors are sometimes so “deep in“ their characters that they even call each other by their characters’ names when they are having sex.

The Chinese series “A Winter Sun Wakes the Wind in Spring Hills’ Dream“ also depicts the lives of young, gay men, some of them actors, whose love is not only obstructed by the rules of the industry, but also by their families. This series is so unique in writing, directing, cinematography, coloring, and acting, that for me it is the best BL series ever made – it is like epic poetry turned into epic pictures.

If “Winter Sun“ is the best BL series of all times, “Payback“ is certainly one of the best Thai BL series ever made. It is not poetic, but shocking, brutal, and yet full of love and positive emotion.

I’ll keep the synopsis short as...